Power, Distinction, Display: Excavating Elites

The Bourgeois World of 1860

Given the imminent outbreak of Civil War, it's hardly surprising that political parties, and especially the Republican Party were a particularly strong presence in Chicago in 1860. The "Governing Elite," is joined by the "Radical Republicans" and "Institutional Republicans" as the three largest modularity classes. 

Typical of the mid-nineteenth century bourgeosie, religious and charitable organizations are also prominent. Among the largest modularity classes are those that cohere around cultural organizations (for the display and cultivation of cultural capital), evangelical reform efforts to lift up and regulate the lives of the poor. The modularity classes of "Charities," "Christian Evangelicals," "High Culture and Big Business," and "Cultural and Professional Elite" all reflect particularly bourgeois formations of social and cultural capital accumulation that were distinctive to the mid-nineteenth century, and would be replaced by other forms of organization and social ties in the twentieth century. 

Where to Start

Here are some questions, individuals, and groups to explore: 

• In what modularity class was Cyrus McCormick in 1860? In which organizations did he participate? 
• To which organizations and individuals was John H. Kinzie connected?  

Other Ways to Explore the Network

Explore the social neighborhoods of 1860 in 3D

On a desktop: Use your mouse to explore the network in three dimensions. Double-click to zoom in; right-click to pan; left-click to rotate. To zoom back out again, drag your finger downward on a trackpad. 

Please be patient; this visualization takes a while to load and also takes time to redraw between clicks or mouse moves! Also, while the 3D visualization works on mobile devices, it may be easier to explore the network on a desktop platform. 

Click here to learn more about how to explore the social neighborhoods of 1860 in VR (virtual reality). 

Figure A, Radical Republicans

Case Study: Getting into the Network

Using the Group Selector drop down menu, you can view a specific modularity class or social neighborhood. For instance, in Figure A, we can see the "Radical Republican" modularity class. Among the most prominent nodes here is the individual John Amoudsen. 

Figure B, John Amoudsen's network

The second image, Figure B, shows us John Amoudsen's network ties. Although affiliated with the "Radical Republicans," Amoudsen also has ties to the City Council which is classed in the Governing Elite, and the Republican Exec Committee and the Ward Inspectors which are classed in the "Institutional Republicans" social neighborhood. 

Figure C, Kansas Relief Society

In the lead up to the Civil War, many antislavery political activists in the North organized to support the freesoil campaigners in bleeding Kansas, where six years of guerilla war preceded the outbreak of the Civil War itself. Although the Kansas Relief Society was part of the "Christian Evangelicals" modularity class, many prominent individuals from other parts of the social network were also members of this organization. Foremost among them were William B. Ogden, part of the "Cultural and Professional Elite" neighborhood, Peter Page, part of the "Institutional Republicans." 

Figure D, Christian Evangelicals Modularity Class

Lastly, we can see the Kansas Relief Society within the whole structure of the "Christian Evangelicals" Social neighborhood.